USS Fitzgerald mishap becomes clearer...Freighter on autopilot at time of collision.

via Free Beacon.

The deadly collision between a U.S. destroyer and a container ship June 17 took place while the freighter was on autopilot, according to Navy officials.

The Philippines-flagged cargo ship ACX Crystal was under control of a computerized navigation system that was steering and guiding the container vessel, according to officials familiar with preliminary results of an ongoing Navy investigation.

Investigators so far found no evidence the collision was deliberate.

Nevertheless, an accident during computerized navigation raises the possibility the container ship's computer system could have been hacked and the ship deliberately steered into the USS Fitzgerald, an Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer.

A more likely explanation is that collision was the result of an autopilot malfunction, or the autopilot's warning signals, used to notify the ship's operators, were missed.

Story here. 

Bill Gertz is the last of a dying breed.  Hardcore defense journalists.  Even if you don't lean right you should subscribe to the Free Beacon just to keep up with his reporting.

Back on task.

Could the N. Koreans have gamed out this incident and used one of their only world class weapons to almost destroy a US warship?  Could they have hacked the navigation system?  Gertz smashed the theory right after he raised it but still....